Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes (2018) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 6-13
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From page 6... ...
, planetary protection policy has not had to address the complex issues associated with the return of samples of extraterrestrial material. Especially for sample return missions, the need to develop better and more complete planetary protection policies is becoming urgent, given the pressing timelines of mission planning 1 These include, but are not limited to, the Titan Mare Explorer (http://www.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro2202/TiME_06497165.
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From page 7... ...
NASA, the federal government, and the international community do not yet have planetary protection policy development processes in place that are ready to respond to expansion in the number of actors and types of activities. Furthermore, while past planetary protection policies have focused primarily on meeting international scientific objectives, some future missions can be expected to stimulate growing public interest, and even concerns.
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From page 8... ...
The committee's charge focused on the process by which planetary protection policy is formulated. The charge did not ask the committee to propose specific policies or to assess specific standards, procedures, or validation methods through which space missions execute planetary protection policies.
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From page 9... ...
Over the longer term, false negative results could expose future exploration missions -- including human missions -- to overlooked hazards, while false positive results could unjustifiably curtail any immediate or future scientific activities. The process to develop planetary protection policies has a legitimate interest in ensuring that space missions satisfy requirements, including contamination and cleanliness requirements, connected to the integrity of scientific investigations.
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From page 10... ...
New scientific findings and technological advances inform both policy formulation and implementation about how to make the planetary protection actions more effective in future space exploration activities. Policy formulation occurs at both national and international levels, and in the case of internationally cooperative missions, all of these steps have international implications.
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From page 11... ...
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, of which the United States is a member, has endorsed COSPAR as the appropriate international authority for creating consensus planetary protection guidelines.14 The COSPAR policy goes beyond the definition of policy in the foregoing paragraph and includes substantial detail on requirements and goals for planetary exploration missions. Member states do have binding obligations under the OST, but the treaty's language does not address, in and of itself, an implementation policy (i.e., a course of action for specific space missions)
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From page 12... ...
Thus, the committee kept these ethical concerns in mind in analyzing planetary protection policy but did not explicitly create a set of findings and recommendations on these issues. As the number of nations and non-state actors who potentially will be involved in the exploration of outer space in the future increases, there will need to be a generally accepted ethical basis for policy (such as a function played by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
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From page 13... ...
In the chapters that follow in this report, the committee identifies lessons learned from planetary protection policy development in the past and issues that need to be resolved to make future policies effective. These issues include the need for a comprehensive NASA planetary protection strategic plan that identifies relevant future missions that demand early planetary protection guidance; establishes planetary protection research and technology development investment priorities; creates a robust process for securing independent, expert, outside advice, and peer review; assesses legacy requirements and identifies opportunities for improvement based on new science; improves the clarity of the translation of policy into mission requirements; and engages the federal government and the international community in timely planetary protection policies for sample return and human missions to Mars.
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